Stuff to read while you're eating your cereal. A blog on history, archaeology, science, technology, and whatever else I happen to be interested in. Be sure to follow me on Twitter! @ModernCerealBox

Another Parking Lot, Another Lost English King

Much fanfare was made over the discovery of the bones of King Richard III, buried under a parking lot in Leicester, England that had taken the place of a Medieval abbey. Now Richard may have some company in that exclusive club, as historians search a parking lot in Reading, England for what may be the current resting place of King Henry I.

But, it’s important to note, they haven’t found anything quite yet.

The historians working on the project know roughly where Henry was buried, and they know approximately where that would relate to the modern day parking lot. They just don’t know if his bones are still there, or if they were moved sometime over the past 900 years.

In what may be the best quote I’ve read in the past week, historian John Mullaney, part of the team trying to find Henry’s remains, told The New York Times, “Henry was a reforming king and would have been fascinated by the idea of cars and transport, and may well have liked being buried under a car park.”

Henry, the second son of William the Conqueror to ascend to the throne, was by all accounts a cruel ruler, a proficient philanderer (fathering at least 24 children out of wedlock). and a big fan of eating lamprey, which may have contributed to his untimely death.

I’ll leave you with this fantastic summary of the situation by The Guardian: